Juneau to Bar Harbor town manager: Lower expectations for cruise ship plan
Other news: Charlotte Gill running for select board in SWH; Quietside police presence under stress; Fleet will not pursue 34 moorings in South Shore Cove
BAR HARBOR Sept. 24, 2022 - Town Manager Kevin Sutherland is taking his counterpart’s suggestion from Alaska to heart: Manage expectations.
He is executing an agreement with the cruise ship industry with such low expectations that it’s bound to exceed its written goals, even if it barely puts a dent into this town’s single biggest challenge.
Sutherland called Juneau City Manager Rorie Watt this summer to seek advice on how to deal with the cruise ship industry’s tourniquet around the throats of residents here. Watt found their Zoom session to be so entertaining that he shared his story with the entire Juneau city council. They got a hearty chuckle at Sutherland’s expense, especially at his previously unreported attempt to pawn off the entire problem onto the state. You may listen to Watt’s account here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18b6yD34xBNK3bY2rRsj2GAkLp23Zx07Y/view?usp=sharing
Meanwhile, Sutherland got a 5-2 blessing this week from the Town Council to consummate the Memorandum of Agreement, which reads like it was written by industry lawyers. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1STGDKrxrJdbcYN0Qi9skLHFZGU9b4whV/view?usp=sharing
Among the concessions the town agreed to:
There will be more heavy passenger days next fall with 11 days in October 2023 exceeding the proposed 4,000-passenger cap compared with only seven this October. September 2023 will see 12 days exceeding 4,000.
Also, visits will be allowed in April and November 2023.
The town has posted a grossly misleading “flyer” on its website which omits some important information and distorts others. It stated that the daily passenger cap is 3,800 but neglects to mention that the harbor master has the discretion to approve 200 more passengers which he almost always does. The QSJ chooses to use the actual number, 4,000.
The flyer claimed a daily passenger count of 2,153 by averaging in the days without ships. Almost no one uses that methodology.
The heavy passenger days are the ones most noticeable by residents and businesses. On Oct. 18, 2022, for instance, the town will be invaded by three ships carrying 4,654 passengers in their “lower berth.” That does not include the upper berth nor crew members. “Enchanted Princess” with 3,660 passengers lists a crew of 1,346, all of whom could disembark and become tourists just like the passengers.
(See cruise ship passenger to crew ratios here: https://www.cruisewatch.com/cruise-guide/rankings/ships-passenger-crew-ratio)
The MOA calls for signatures from individual cruise lines and not just from the Cruise Lines International Association. Have all the cruise lines agreed to a pact negotiated by a trade group? How many different MOAs will need to be signed? Sutherland and Peacock did not reply to the QSJ’s impolite questions.
Those details were not explicitly disclosed when Sutherland presented his Cruise Management Plan on Aug. 2, even though he said the full effect of the CMP won’t be until 2024.
The MOA was pushed through without it ever being aired publicly in a hearing, unlike the citizen’s initiative to cap daily visitors at 1,000.
That initiative was the subject of two council meetings, a Warrant Committee meeting, a Planning Board meeting and a public hearing which was so well attended that it spilled into an adjoining room where restaurant, hotel and trinket shop owners attacked the initiative brought by resident Charles Sidman.
In addition to caving on the 2023 season, the MOA appears to be essentially a one-year deal for the 2024 season. It provides for an annual review each November. By 2024, five of the seven current council members will have termed up. It’s anyone guess who will be on the council then. Does anyone believe the industry doesn’t know that?
The MOA renews for 2025 only “If the parties do not mutually agree on an update in by December 31st, 2023.”
These and other previously undisclosed details raise questions about its effectiveness and why the council refused to hold a public hearing.
Council member Joe Minutolo said he wanted an answer to a simple question: Does the MOA cure the problem which ignited the citizens revolt in 2019 when cruise ship passengers took over the town?
Minutolo’s motion for a hearing was shot down 5-2 after other members said they had heard enough from the public on cruise ship issues. Other members were chair Val Peacock, Jill Goldthwait, Matt Hochman, Erin Cough and Jeff Dobbs.
Peacock said at a forum this week sponsored by petitioner Charles Sidman that anyone may approach her with questions.
So why not say the same thing to an audience bigger than the handful who gathered at the YWCA Thursday night?
That would be called a public hearing. And that’s what the council doesn’t want.
Peacock and Sutherland have not answered a single question from the QSJ since Peacock became chair, outside of my Freedom of Access requests. They are making previous chair Paul Paradis and Town Manager Cornell Knight, who actively recruited cruise ships, look like paragons of transparency.
(I have filed a FOAA request for all cruise ship bookings since 2019.)
Minutolo said he does not know whether the current Cruise Management Plan will bring total visitors below that of 2019, which for him was the breaking point when residents revolted.
“What’s the rush?” he asked about the council’s exigency while tending to a bike repair in his shop, as tourists queued up Cottage Street to rent his bikes. Minutolo is an outlier in Bar Harbor - a businessman who admits to benefitting from cruise ships but wants to reduce their impact because the town is getting ruined, in his opinion.
When told about the October numbers for next year, he said, “I’m not surprised.”
Sutherland and council members have used scare tactics, saying they do not want a prolonged legal fight with the industry which could be costly.
What makes them believe their plan isn’t vulnerable to legal challenges?
Eben Salvatore, who operates the passenger tender service for Ocean Properties - the only such service in town - has said publicly the town’s plan will create hardships for his business and other businesses. He convinced the council’s cruise ship committee in mid August to lobby for restoration of much of the current practices - a daily cap of 5,500 and visits in April and November.
What if the legal challenge came from local businesses and not from the industry?
Robert Palmer, the city attorney for Juneau, Alaska, which had a four-year legal battle, stated in an opinion in 2020 that the Constitution guarantees a right to travel. “There is a right to travel from one state to another and to use the instruments of interstate commerce, which includes the right to be treated as a welcome visitor rather than an unfriendly alien when temporarily present in the second state.”
“Generally, laws that unduly burden interstate commerce are unconstitutional, which require courts to balance interests,” he stated.
Could Salvatore and other Bar Harbor businesses claim that they were harmed by the town’s restriction of travel by out-of-staters? Salvatore declined to answer questions from the QSJ this week.
(A good attorney would argue that there is no such restriction on travel as out-of-staters pour in by the millions to MDI over land. Does the Constitution guarantee mode of travel? Did cruise ships exist in 1789?
The legal battle in Juneau which started in 2016 and was settled in 2019 concerned a separate issue - the claim by CLIA that the municipality was using its passenger fees on unapproved projects. Bar Harbor collects about $1 million in such fees a year and may only use the money to maintain roads and infrastructure related to cruise ship visits.)
The MOA is a porous document and a far cry from the Cruise Management Plan Sutherland presented to the public Aug. 2. There are many potential points of failure and concessions which he did not disclose then.
The citizens initiative is a simpler document but made to appear complicated by Sutherland, the town council, planning board and warrant committee because they do not favor it.
It uses the town’s Land-Use Ordinance to prohibit property owners from disembarking more than 1,000 cruise ship visitors a day, including crew, and imposes a fine of $100 for every person who exceeds that cap. It essentially affects only Ocean Properties’ tender service. That belies Sutherland’s claim that it would require a large, unwieldy infrastructure to manage. How about hiring a part-time employee to stand at the dock with a counter whenever a ship disembarks? Not rocket science.
LUOs were used successfully in 2019 when citizens voted against a town pier and to allow only residents to vote on boards and committees. LUO was used last year to pass the cap on vacation rentals.
Whether the current initiative is more defensible legally is unknown, as is the case with the town plan.
But one is the work of citizens who are serious about changing the trajectory of the town and the other is the result of officialdom eager to put the issue behind them.
Only they may be just creating fuel for a longer battle.
Charlotte Gill: I’m running for select board!
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Charlotte Gill, owner of Charlotte’s Legendary lobster Pound, is, if nothing else, a fighter and a survivor who has endured the intense harassment of her business for 18 months by selectman George Jellison on behalf of his sister who lives across the restaurant.
This week she announced her candidacy for the select board seat vacated by Jellison’s loyalist Dan Norwood, who resigned in the spring.
“With the addition of the two new select board members last month, I would like to see the town continue its present momentum of positive change in this long overdue direction,” she stated. “There’s no time for backsliding.
“I grew up here. I know its people. I know it’s traditions. I know its way of life. I know what it holds dear. The things that are sacred to it are sacred to me. Therefore, as I am also a strong proponent of ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself,’ I have decided to run for office.
“Where my hat goes my heart follows, and if elected, I will work for the town and its people for as long as they will both have me. I believe in common sense for common solutions and ultimately…the common good. In any case, change best happens from within, and with that, I am “all in.”
Jellison and his sister have waged a campaign for almost two years to restrict parking at Charlotte’s lobster pound, a landmark business founded in 1967.
Jellison also built roadblocks to prevent Natasha Johnson, owner of the only marijuana store in the county, from running for select board. Johnson was elected and now sits on the board.
Quietside citizenry uneasy about police coverage
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Some residents here and in neighboring Tremont are expressing unease about the current level of law enforcement.
One local businessman who asked that his name not be used said he is concerned that the town is having trouble filling two open patrol positions.
Police Chief John Hall has only two patrolmen in addition to himself and Lt. Mark Miller.
He is hoping union negotiations will result in a pay increase from the current $26 an hour. Housing cost is a major factor in recruitment as well.
In neighboring Tremont, four residents complained at the select meeting Monday about coverage by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, which provides police presence in town 45 hours a week.
County Sheriff Scott Kane appeared in person as requested by the select board to hear the complaints and concerns.
Sarah White, who identified herself as a new full time resident, expressed a concern which is typical of a town with no full-time police and with many seasonal homeowners.
White, a former park ranger here, said she was away when “someone took out the fence in my front yard” as well as the mailbox of a neighbor.
“My son came to check on my property and was aghast at what had happened. We didn't know what to do. We tried to ask people in the neighborhood? And the answer was nobody knows. And I said, did anyone file a report with the sheriff? Was anyone here? And they said, nobody knows. And there was no report filed.”
Resident Jessica Bass said while the the sheriff’s office seeks residents’ help, it doesn’t always respond.
“You had mentioned, if you see something, say something, and but then there's also the other hand that what I'm hearing too is when we do say something it's not always received in a way that we were hoping for.”
She proposed organizing neighborhood watches to gather facts and information for the sheriff’s office.
Jim Willis, the police chief who is shared by Mount Desert and Bar harbor, has no problem filling his staffing needs. He is fully staffed with 22 officers.
The consolidation of those police operations is another example of a successful sharing of a critical public service on MDI.
Both SWH and Tremont have resisted such efforts. Former SWH Town manager Justin Van Dongen was scolded by then Select Chair Chad Terry in 2020 for holding talks with Mount Desert and Bar Harbor about working together. A few months later Van Dongen was fired.
If you need a cop, do you really care what town seal is on the door of the patrol car?
Northeast Harbor yacht club no longer seeking 34 moorings
NORTHEAST HARBOR - Franny Charles, manager of the Fleet, said this week it no longer is pursuing plans to place 34 moorings in neighboring South Shore Cove.
“We don't have any plans to do anything more than just keep our four (moorings) right now. That's it. We're not trying to pave the bay or anything like that.”
The South Shore Cove Association wants the harbor committee to override the harbor master’s approval of those four permits and protect the pristine nature of the only remaining cove in town unspoiled by manmade intrusions.
He said many members of the Fleet were alarmed that residents of abutting South Shore Cove - some of whom are Fleet members - “lawyered up” to fight the Fleet’s plans to seek more moorings for its members, 39 of whom are on a waiting list.
“We're not interested in throwing money at lawyers. Okay, we've got people who want to get on the water and we realized that we can't go any further. So that's fine. We'll just accepted it.”
This spring, without much notice to its own membership nor neighbors, the Fleet applied to install as many at 34 moorings in abutting South Shore Cove, which is the only remaining unspoiled cove in Mount Desert.
SHOUTOUT: SWH town clerk Jennifer LaHaye
SOUTHWEST HARBOR - Town Clerk Jennifer LaHaye was named Rookie of the Year by the Maine Town and City Clerks Association and was featured in the Islander.
“The award is given in recognition of a new clerk who has done an excellent job in a community. It is aimed at commending clerks who may have resolved a difficult problem, who have provided strong leadership during a crisis or who have brought new vitality and professionalism to a community.”
LaHaye was hired as the Southwest Harbor deputy town clerk in April of 2021. She was promoted to town clerk just a few months later.
Southwest Harbor Town Manager Marilyn Lowell told the Islander LaHaye’s abilities to show empathy, patience and eagerness and to treat everyone with respect and dignity have made her a great fit for the position.
LaHaye received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and psychology. She has worked as a parking enforcement officer and a dispatcher for the Southwest Harbor Police Department. For eight and a half years, she was a social worker for the Hancock County Department of Health and Human Services.
For the greater part of her life, LaHaye has also been a member of the Southwest Harbor Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Tom Chisolm appointed her to the rank of lieutenant after she completed the required courses at the Hancock County Fire Academy.
Town clerks are the backbone of Maine’s municipal governments. MDI has extraordinary town clerks: Claire Woolfolk in Mount Desert, Katie Dandurand in Tremont and Liz Graves in Bar Harbor who recently was nominated for a similar statewide honor by Town Manager Kevin Sutherland.
TRIBUTE: Lucy Elizabeth Triplett
BAR HARBOR - Lucy Elizabeth Triplett, 92, died peacefully surrounded by family on Sept. 15, 2022. Lucy was born on July 22, 1930, in Wakefield, Mass., the daughter of Gabriel and Grace (Zagaria) Pica.
She attended nurses training at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital and worked at Peter Bent Brigham hospital before moving to Maine to take a position at MDI Hospital. In Bar Harbor, she met her first husband, Douglas MacQuinn, and had three children. After Doug’s death in 1974, Lucy changed career paths and became a successful small business operator as manager of the Park Entrance Motel. While juggling a business and three children, Lucy returned to school and earned a BA from the University of Maine at Orono. Lucy married Harry Triplett in 1994 and they lived in Otter Creek until Harry’s death in 2011.
Lucy loved her community and gave countless hours to many local organizations. She was one of the first two women to serve on the MDI YMCA board of directors and spent many hours as a YMCA swim official. Lucy was a Hospice volunteer, served as treasurer for the League of Women Voters and volunteered for the Maine Democratic Party. As a longtime member of St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Lucy held many church jobs. She was the junior warden and a member of the altar guild and vestry. She volunteered in the church office and could often be found pruning trees or weeding gardens on the church grounds.
Lucy is survived by her brother, Lawrence Giarrizzo, of New Hampshire; her daughters, Lisa Tweedie (James) of Bar Harbor, Jan Gee (John) of Ellsworth and Karen Shields (Dwayne) of Bar Harbor; her grandchildren, Samantha, Calli, Douglas, Calvin, Grace and Eleanor; and her great-grandchildren, Samaria and Amaree. Lucy was preceded in death by her father, Gabriel, her mother, Grace, three siblings, Joe, Betty, and Laureen, an infant son and husbands Doug and Harry.
The family extends a heartfelt thank you to the staff at Birch Bay Retirement Village and Beacon Hospice for their compassionate care and support.
A celebration of Lucy’s life will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 4, 2022, at St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Bar Harbor. Those who desire may make contributions in Lucy’s memory to St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, 41 Mt. Desert St., Bar Harbor, ME 04609.
Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com.
TRIBUTE: Gerard Fournier
SOMESVILLE - Gerard “Gerry” Orazio Fournier, 68, died peacefully Sept. 17, 2022, surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Gerry was born Aug. 15, 1954, in Lewiston, ME, the oldest child of Chesley and Theresa Fournier.
He graduated valedictorian of Lewiston High School’s Class of 1972.
That fall Gerry entered Georgetown University, which proved life changing. At the very first freshman mixer he met the love of his life, Maureen Robbins, the “curly red-haired girl from New Jersey.” She thought he looked like Cat Stevens. And that was that. They were inseparable, graduating in May 1976, and marrying one week after Commencement.
The young couple started a family in New Jersey while Gerry attended Seton Hall Law School. After graduation in 1980, Gerry was commissioned as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and spent three years on active duty as a military trial attorney at the naval base in Newport, RI.
Following his military service, Gerry was admitted to the Maine Bar and began his legal career at Pierce Atwood LLP in Augusta, settling with his family in Gardiner. He later joined the firm of Isaacson & Raymond in Lewiston and was further admitted to the Bar of both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The bulk of Gerry’s trial work focused on personal injury, professional malpractice, products liability, labor, and worker’s compensation cases in both state and federal courts. In 1998, Gerry opened the Law Office of Gerard O. Fournier, which was the Maine litigation office for Hanover Insurance. He remained a proud member of the Maine and American Trial Lawyers Association and was a contributing editor for “Maine Trial Practice.” He retired from the practice of Richardson, Whitman, Large & Badger in Bangor in 2017.
All who worked with Gerry knew him to be a man of integrity, unassuming genius, generosity, and fair play. Though he wouldn’t want you to know it, he was named Boss of the Year by his staff; he was hailed as a “lawyer’s lawyer” by his colleagues. He often received thank you cards from clients and congratulatory notes from opposing counsel. Maureen nicknamed him Atticus Finch for his keen sense of right and wrong and the quiet compassion that extended to everyone he met.
In 2008, Gerry and Maureen made their lifelong dream of living near Acadia National Park a reality, building a home in Somesville. Gerry hiked countless rocky and root-filled paths across Mt. Desert Island with his family and dear friends, volunteered with the Friends of Acadia, built trail signs, carved wooden birds, and spent many wonderful days watching his grandchildren grow around him. To them, he will forever be their beloved Pop-pop.
Gerry lives on in our smiles and our hearts, whenever we remember to think judiciously and act selflessly. He was, and remains, the best of us.
Gerry is predeceased in death by his father, Chesley, and his granddaughter, Maeve Kathleen Fournier. He is survived by his wife Maureen, mother, Theresa of Augusta, sister Gina Yamartino of South Portland; brother, Christopher Fournier of Canoga Park, CA; and his children, Katie Fiermonti (and her husband Seth) of Durham, NH; Erin Jasina (and her partner Ryan Snow) of Stratham, NH; and Michael Fournier (and his wife Caroline) of Southwest Harbor. Gerry is ever-present in the laughter of his seven devoted grandchildren, Luke and Joey Fiermonti, Maddie and Ben Jasina, and Henry and Elowen Fournier.
The family wishes to thank the warm and caring staff for the support and care Gerry received at MDI Hospital and Birch Bay-Safe Harbor in his final few months.
In lieu of flowers, the family invites gifts to be made in Gerry’s honor to the Friends of Acadia at 42 Cottage Street or P.O. Box 45, Bar Harbor, ME 04609. Or simply go outside in a beautiful place that brings you peace. Think of Gerry.
Friends are invited to call from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23,2022, at Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mt. Desert. A funeral Mass will be prayed at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 56 Mt. Desert St., Bar Harbor. All friends and family—who brought such joy to Gerry’s life—are invited and encouraged to attend. A private interment will follow at a later date.
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com
TRIBUTE: Richard Hunt Downing Bullock Jr.
BAR HARBOR - Richard H.D. Bullock Jr. died peacefully Saturday morning, Sept. 17, 2022, at 8:15 a.m. in MDI Hospital, Bar Harbor, with his wife, Carol, and his brother Watson at his side. He suffered from advanced Parkinson’s disease and vascular dementia. During his last days, three generations of family and friends spent precious time at his bedside. So much love surrounded him. In the end, angels carried him home.
He was born on Nov. 1, 1940, in Jersey City, N.J., the son of Richard H.D. Bullock Sr. and Antoinette B. Shallcross. His brother, Watson Shallcross Bullock, was born Feb. 4, 1945. The family lived at Skytop, Pa., and Swiftwater, Pa., where Rich attended Pocono Township Schools. Rich’s grandfather was John Griscom Bullock, a well-known photographer from the Photo-Secessionist movement that encouraged the recognition of photography as an art form. Taking inspiration from his grandfather, Rich had a particularly keen eye when he was behind a camera and built a personal darkroom as a teenager to practice his art. He was valedictorian of his high school class and was a U.S. representative page for Congressman Francis Walter, Democrat from Pennsylvania’s 15th District.
Rich graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree with distinction in mechanical engineering in 1962 and a master’s degree in 1965. He began his lifelong career in the paper industry with Scott and later Kimberly Clark. He had a hand in every step of the paper-making process, traveling around the world to consult with international partners and build a network of more efficient paper mills. He worked in Thailand for two years and during his career, he visited mills on six continents, where his expertise and gracious demeanor earned him the respect of his peers around the globe.
In 2004, he met Carol Eileen Woolman at her cousin’s wedding in Green Bay, Wis. They married in a Quaker ceremony on July 1, 2006, under the care of Acadia Friends Meeting in Bar Harbor with Carol’s seven grandchildren as attendants. They spent their honeymoon in China and Tibet. Carol’s family loved Rich from the start and he, them. He was a gentle, caring, generous and loveable man.
Rich and Carol enjoyed their homes in Bar Harbor and Greenwich, N.J., near Carol’s hometown of Elmer, and her extended family and friends came to know Rich and value his company. They treasured any time they spent with his brother Watson and sister-in-law Jane Kressler Bullock of Silver Spring, Md. Rich and Carol loved the natural world, particularly moon rises, birdwatching and photography. He was also an active member of Acadia Friends Meeting (Quakers), where he served in many positions of leadership. He lived his life to be of service to others.
Rich is survived by his wife of 16 years, Carol, his brother Watson, and sister-in-law Jane; stepdaughter, Lara Horner, and former husband Wayne Gray and their children Alicia, Olivia and Alex Gray; stepdaughter, Amy vanMeteren and partner Joel Graber, and Amy’s children: Helena Munson and Tzara Kane; stepson, Christian Horner and fiancée Alexondra Lee, and Christian’s daughters Jane and Ava Horner and their mother Alex Kapp. He was predeceased by his stepson Mark Horner in 1998 and his late wife Sandra Ruth Leaf in 2003.
A memorial service is planned under the care of Acadia Friends Meeting on Sunday, Sept. 25, at 11 a.m. at the Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor. His ashes will be interred at Laurelwood Cemetery, Stroudsburg, Pa., at a later date.
Gifts in his memory may be offered to the Jesup Library Building Campaign at 34 Mount Desert St., Bar Harbor, ME 04609 or to Acadia Friends Meeting, c/o Dean Booher, Treasurer, 3 Shannon Way, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.
Arrangements in care of Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com.
TRIBUTE: Howard Turnbull
BAR HARBOR - Howard “Sturgis” Turnbull, 89, passed away peacefully Sept. 13, 2022, in Ellsworth. Sturgis was born Dec. 28, 1932, in Seal Harbor, the only child of Howard and Emma (Grindle) Turnbull.
He graduated from Gilman High School in 1951. After just two semesters at the University of Maine, Sturgis decided more school was not for him. He worked for the Rockefeller family estates in Seal Harbor, and also helped maintain many miles of carriage roads. In 1952, Sturgis enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and proudly served his country for four years. Sturgis was stationed in Tripoli, Libya, and was able to visit many countries in Europe. He also spent time in Illinois, Oklahoma, and his favorite tour, Alabama. In 1955, while on leave, he met the love of his life, Jean Marie Paine, in Bar Harbor, and on Valentine’s Day, 1959, they were married in Salisbury Cove. In February, they celebrated 63 years of marriage.
Sturgis had an incredible green thumb and owned a successful greenhouse business, Orland Garden Center, for many years. In 1980, he and Jean moved to Bar Harbor and operated the Aunt Elsie lobster boat tour from the Golden Anchor Pier. Sturgis was happiest on a boat, especially sailboats, and he built many different kinds over his lifetime. He was a dealer of Cape Dory Sailboats and also leased boats to people in both Seal Harbor and Bar Harbor for many years.
Sturgis and Jean spent many later years as “snowbirds” in Melbourne, Fla., making many friends and memories along the way.
Sturgis is survived by his wife, Jean; and his daughter, Diana “DiDi” Prestinari, both of Ellsworth. He is also survived by his granddaughter, Katie Prestinari, of Santa Fe, N.M., and Marisa Prestinari of Hampton Falls, N.H. He is also survived by his great-grandson, Zia Stevens Prestinari of Santa Fe, N.M.; and also many cousins in Maine, Massachusetts and PEI, Canada.
Per Sturgis’s wishes, a private family ceremony will be held later this fall.
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